Datong Travel Guide | 3 Days 2 Nights Itinerary Version

I've read many travel guides about Datong before. Most are arranged by recommended attractions and food. But I didn’t know how to plan the actual trip. Here is my personally tested perfect | convenient | travel guide. It covers eating, accommodation, and transportation. Due to word limits, more detailed transportation and duration tips are posted as screenshots in the comments. 📅 DAY 1｜Arrive in Datong → Museum → Ancient City Stroll 🏨 Stay at Garden Hotel for all three days 🚶 Zini 369 Coarse Grain Restaurant (Drum Tower Branch) Ordered oil-splashed scallion oat noodles, Hunyuan cold noodles, fried pork, and Datong yellow flower stew. All delicious! (Photo 2) Average cost per person: 60 RMB. 🚘 Datong Museum Caught the 14:30 free guided tour, very comprehensive on cultural relics. Highlights: Northern Wei Sima Jinlong Tomb lacquer screen, acrobatic figurines, glazed chiwen, blue glassware, tomb guardian beasts, pottery branch lamp, etc. (Photo 3) ⚠️ Advance reservation required. 🥧 Heshengcai Dim Sum Shop Sea buckthorn ice bread is tasty! Sea buckthorn candy is average. 🚶 Southeast City Ancient city pedestrian street is great for strolling and photos (Photo 4). 🏯 Prince Dai’s Mansion 🎫 78 RMB, unlimited entries within three days. Winter iron flower show starts at 20:10, just arrive on time (Photo 5). 🐲 Nine-Dragon Wall Just across the street from the exit, take photos over the fence (Photo 6). 🍲 Mingyuexuan Old Hotpot Small portion assorted hotpot is enough! Meatballs are super tasty (Photo 7). Average cost per person: 75 RMB. 📅 DAY 2｜Ancient City Temples → Yungang Grottoes 🍱 Hotel Breakfast Knife-cut noodles are delicious, coffee even has latte art (Photo 8). 🛕 Huayan Temple 🎫 35 RMB. Highlights: Mahavira Hall (largest glazed chiwen), Vajrayana Buddhist hall, hands-together smiling Bodhisattva, copper underground palace (Photo 9). Guide 100 RMB/person, about 3 hours for two temples. 🛕 Shanhua Temple (Photo 10) 🎫 40 RMB. Mainly architectural focus, lucky to catch Buddha’s halo! (Only around winter solstice) 🍜 Longjuxiang Shaomai Restaurant Lamb shaomai, secret royal chicken, yellow rice jelly, lamb offal noodles all delicious (Photo 11). Average cost per person: 64 RMB. 🪨 Yungang Grottoes 🎫 100 RMB. Bronze badge guided tour 250 RMB for 2 people, highly recommended. Focus on early Tan Yao caves 1-5, mid-period caves 1-13 (Photo 12). ⚠️ Off-season tickets can be bought on site. 🍜 Xijindao Huayan Temple Branch So-so, not as good as hotel breakfast knife-cut noodles (Photo 13). 🛍 Foxiaoban (Drum Tower West Street) Full styles available in off-season (Photo 14). 📅 DAY 3｜Ying County Wooden Pagoda → Hanging Temple → Return to Beijing 🪵 Ying County Wooden Pagoda 🎫 50 RMB. Watch "Millennium Wooden Pagoda Looks at Ying County" the night before, no guide needed to understand (Photo 15). 🏯 Pure Land Temple 🎫 15 RMB, mainly for the caisson ceiling, can skip (Photo 16). 🏯 Hanging Temple 🎫 15 RMB, climbing fee 100 RMB. Watch the Planet Research Institute explanation the night before. The temple has many cats (Photos 17, 18). 🚗 Return to Beijing Word limit reached. See comments for the full itinerary.